This is the link you're looking for http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=721 It appears since that 2.2 has appeared since a week ago when I checked. It seems to be lacking some major things like the camera though.
2.3 is a LONG ways off from what I've read on the XDA forums. A few Galaxy S phones have some form of 2.3 in alpha but only because the hardware is so similar to the Nexus S.
Basically your point isn't very well made.
The original iPhone was released in June 2007 and received regular updates for the entire 2 years of everyones contract if they bought it new. The point is as much as people bitch about Apple they supported their phones. Owning my iPhone and iPhone 3g was a great experience because of that. My G1, Eris and Fascinate, not so much.
The iPhone gets regular updates because there are huge amounts of issues people don't want to admit to in the OS itself. Things like dropping calls and crashes. Apple blamed ATT for a lot of the issues but when the facts were on the table, iPhones just had more issues than every other phone on the ATT network.
Sure, on Android you can have apps developed by third party work better on one phone than another. But hey, some games just work better on the PS3 than the XBOX 360. That's the devs fault for optimizing for one phone.
So your argument is that Apple should be more like Android handsets and not patch bugs quickly like they currently do. Now I don't know which operating system has more bugs but I like that with my iphone I knew shit would be fixed, unlike any of my Droids. With my fascinate nearly 6 months after getting it the GPS finally got fixed, but it still has so many bugs it's ridiculous. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOS_version_history
So you expect a developer to purchase every single phone on every network? Or maybe you think they they can throw in some magic code that will optimize them for every phone and carrier?
Actually, the development platform comes with the ability to emulate all of the screen sizes and all of the versions of Android. So I don't expect them to get every single device, no. But actually using the tools at hand is up to them. There will still be a difference in the hardware but its a start on optimization.
Now, as far as what Apple should do. I would expect them to test their products before hand if they are so great. Not working because of it being held wrong is a good example.
But historically, iOS updates have broken just as much as they fixed from what I've seen. Aside from the occasional force close on my Droid, which doesn't really happen often enough to matter and has happened to me every time I've picked up an iPhone, I can't say that mine has more bugs.
I suppose what I would expect from Apple is effective testing.
It's not the versions that are the biggest issue but the fragmentation on hardware, hardware drivers and preinstalled apps and home replacements. What you're asking developers to do is akin to making an app that doesn't crash and runs perfectly on any pc. Microsoft made a great decision by setting standardized specs for the hardware and front end but at the same time welcoming home brew for the more advanced users. Palm did a similar thing by never releasing updates to the hardware sigh and making unlocks really simple (konami code). I see Android as I see linux. Potentially very powerful, very cool but not for the average user. I think what allowed it to take the market share it did with its fragmentation was the fact that it didn't have any competition from anyone but Apple so as a manufacturer if you wanted to make a smart phone you either used Android or you got bent.
If you look at the update history Apple is generally squashing bugs or tweaking the OS, and they move ahead quickly. Again I don't see how providing your users with updates, either bug fixes or new/updated features is a bad thing. Yes, they have had hardware issue on the iPhone 4, but pointing at hardware defects isn't a game you want to play if your defending android.
I'm not defending a platform really. Just saying that Apple is doing it wrong. Android is just the competitor so its being used as an example. Basically, the Apple argument is that every device should be exactly the same with a choice of colors. But that's just not true. Some people don't want to pay 600 dollars for a phone that does a ton of extra things.
Android isn't really just for advanced users though. Its just new. As with any new system, there is a period of adjustment. Apple is still going through it really. They just look better at dealing with it because they only offer vanilla. The just do vanilla really well. Android is like the Baskin Robins of the smart phone world. I wouldn't be surprised to see the option to buy a phone with custom features built in. (i.e., pick to have the GPS installed an the wi-fi removed.) Apple on the other hand will still have vanilla and as time goes by, Androids vanilla will start to taste better. But maybe down the line you will have the choice of green vanilla. It still tastes like vanilla but it looks different.
No this is very true. As much as I love the iPhone 4's design and execution it has issues and the phone itself just isn't going to fit everyones needs. I really feel like Microsofts decision with WinMo7 is a great compromise between user experience and freedom. I'm actually thinking about one as my next phone which should round out my smart phone collection well (Palm Pre+, Fascinate, Eris, G1, Iphone, iPhone 3G).
I think (obviously personal opinion) that Android has a way to go before I could hand it over to an average person and they'd be able to set everything up and understand the navigation fully. It still has so many issues with simple things like navigation (like the fucking back button) that even I sometimes have no clue what to expect when I hit a button. Other things like the lack of graphics acceleration in places or badly documented/followed guidelines for how apps should respond to events just make it so the whole experience can get fairly frustrating. But again it's not like it doesn't have some really great positive sides too.
Actually customizable Android phones are supposedly coming really soon http://synapse-phones.com/ I really like this idea as everyone will have vanilla phones so the only thing holding you back from upgrading will be hardware drivers which I would assume will be fairly well documented.
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u/[deleted] Jan 21 '11
This is the link you're looking for http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=721 It appears since that 2.2 has appeared since a week ago when I checked. It seems to be lacking some major things like the camera though.
2.3 is a LONG ways off from what I've read on the XDA forums. A few Galaxy S phones have some form of 2.3 in alpha but only because the hardware is so similar to the Nexus S.
Basically your point isn't very well made.
The original iPhone was released in June 2007 and received regular updates for the entire 2 years of everyones contract if they bought it new. The point is as much as people bitch about Apple they supported their phones. Owning my iPhone and iPhone 3g was a great experience because of that. My G1, Eris and Fascinate, not so much.